Apparatus for handling coal, ore, and the like



C. S..W|LLIAMSON.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COAL, ORE, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION FILED Aus.9, 1917.

1,392,382, I L Pand' 00u 4, y1921.

3 SHEETS-'SHEET l.

| IIIIIIIIIIIIII.

IIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I d I III III CIS. WILLIAMSON. APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COAL, ORE, AND THE LIKE. APPLICATION man Aue.9.1917.

1,392,382, Patented 00u14, 1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2. II I |I f HUH IIII INIHMIIIIIIIHIII I I', MIMIIII III-HHH Zwan/Zimt' M5 mi'amsaz, y' ra/d @u Mms:

c.'s. WILLIAMSDN.

APPARATUS FOR HANDLING COAL, ORE, AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.9.1917. 1,392,382.

tionedY besidethefdocks, andv deliver'the UNITED STATES rTATEYNr oFFlcE.;

CHARLES s`.fwn;r.1aMsoN, or/crrrcaeo, rumors.

APrABATUs FORHANDLING conn, 03E; ANDTHE LIKE;

.Beit vknownthat I, CHARLES Si'Vivir'.nrriisr soN, Va citizen ofthe United States, residing .at Chicago, in the county of Cook 'and State of.rv Illinois, yhave invented certain `new and vuseful Improvements in Apparatus.' `for vHandling .Coal,Ore, andthe like, offwhich n the following isfaV specification.

This inventionrelates to a method yandapparatus for transferring and simultaneously weighingA iron ore, coal, or otherbulky materialffrom a source of supply to a car. It is an object oflmy invention to provide a y,method whereby the product being transferred may be weighed in transit from the! source `of supply to the car without in.

any way interrupting or stopping the mechanismwhich transfersthe producty from the' source l'of supply., j;

"A 'furtyher ebject r.of my invention is Ato providevmeanswhereby cars on any of several parallel tracks maybe initially loaded lloading without interrupting the operation of the transferring mechanism from the source ofsupply. 1

y The above andother features of novelty,-

Vadvantages andcapabilities will become apf' parentl from a detailed description of the accompanying draw-ings, in ,which have illustrated a device embodying onel form of invention, `but the 'construction there fshownf is` to 'be understood as illustrative only,f and Vnot i defininggpzthe limit of my' invention. nIn theniembodirnent'shown, the lhandling bridge is designed; to unload boatsl posi- 4product either todocks or a receiving hopper, which hopper is supported on the water -side pierv of the bridge, from which hopper the product is vrultimately delivered'to railroad-cars for shipment, a large percentage of the product in practice will bedelivered .tothe oars withoutv being depositedvon .the

I p Specicat'ionof LetterslEatent. I. i*Applicatixiined'Auguat9:1917.` Serial Nfa.".3185,'402.l

1?'at-'entedV oet," 4, 192,1.

docks, but where there isha shortage of cars, `orwherje the disposition ofthe product has not'y been determined, a large percentage 'of the. product will; be. deposited on the docks. All railroad cars are required to beloaded below.,a certain definite fmaXimum weight. Therefore, in order, to save!k handling charges, it is necessary to load all carsto VVthe Yexact, limit; for anything less than a carvload requires'thesame handling charges as a car loaded toitsmaXimumdimit,particuf f,

Ylarly on y such commodities as iron `ore.` 1t isnecessaryto load lthe: .scars s Therefore,

ccuratelyf Y With the devices now in yuse suchas stationarytrackfscales on, a large dock, which y .is located at the outlet endlofthe dock, it is necessary that all cars from/all points pass overthe dock scaleswherethey are weighed.

With 'such arrangement inorder toload the carto its maximum limit, it isnecessaryto adjust the load atA the stationary scales either by adding ymorerproduct tothe Iconltents ofthe car, or'by ltaking out in case `of anoverjrun,v This is' unsatisfactory, inconvement, klaboriousY and expensive... yWith my yinvention, the correct amount can beV predetenninedandput into the car. at the initial loadingwithout in any way'interrupt-` ing-the operation of the mechanism carrying the product from the boat orsource o f supply. This latter feature is also very important, for with it the maximum amount ,of work or results can be had from the transferring l .mechanism which carries the productfrom the boat ordock,l and from the men who operate such mechanism. Referring to the drawings: l YFigure 1 is an elevational view of the device,n embodying one formA ofmy invention,showing it in positionon a dock ready foruse. l .n l Fig.' 2 is a plan view ofthesame showing av boat. alongside ythe dock@ Fig, "3- is anenlarged 'detail view "of the water side pier and parts in connectionv therewith, showing the receiving? hopper, weighing lorry, and boat partly in section. The frame 10`of the, traveling bridgeis of the well known and usual construction, andis supported by two piers 11 and 12. The water side ,pier 11y has two supporting legs 13, which straddle a series of railroad tracks, which inthe drawingsare shown four in number.. The pier 12 and theA supporting legs 13 are. eachA Yprovided with r the usual wheel trucks operable in the usual manner on the tracks, as shownvfor movingv the entire bridge over the tracks When desired.

Y Supported b ythe water pier 11 israreceiving hopper 14, which in commercial practice may be of sullicient size, to contain one hundred. tons of ore. The receiving hopper 14 is provided in' the bottom-with gates 15, which are power operatedby any well known means, andare vunder control of the operator infthejcab 16, lvvhi `:h` ifates when opera'tted` gradually discharge into lthe lhopperV 17* VonV the traveling Weighing lorry 17,7Which lorry is provided With'a Weigh-v ingscales, the scale beam of which is in the 'cab '16g The bottomof thev hopperV on the lorry is provided W'ithgates Ifor discharging ,the product'y from theJ lorry into `the cars 1 8. The traveling lorry as a Whole is supported 20fon trucks designed to travel on tracks 19 Y over the cars V18, so'that it can be moved Vto register witha car on anyone ofthe tracks. The movement of the lorry as a;Whole,'-`as `Wellasthe gatesv for discharging, are power operated in any Well knownf manner', and Vare under the control of the operator in :the Cab- 16. 1 The bridgefis provided with theuSual grabbucket 20, vvhich is operated in anywellknown manner, and is designed tocarr'y thefproduct from the -boat21 beside'the dock directly to the receiving hQpper, or to a place Von the dock, forexample,

as shown at 22in Fig. i' 7 In commercial practice, the traveling bridge is .usuallyserved several railroad tracks, for example, asshoWn inthe dravv ings: Therefore, it is desirable to load accurately into the cars onv any one of the tracks, and itmay be absolutely necessary todo this Without moving the bridge, as the bridge is apt to. be operating in 'a definite hatch inthe boat alongside Vthe dock,

andthereforethe grab biicketfmust return at each trip to exactly'the same position in the bo done. y y. v

.,Inthe operation of the device'embodying myinventlon, as .illustrated in the dravv# ings, theproduct `is'unloaded either from the'boats Vor taken from the docks by means of the grab bucket 2Q, and. delivered tothe receiving hopper 14. vFrom the receiving hopper, the operator in the traveling weighingflorry cab 16 draws olf the ore or other product inthe receiving hopper into a hopper 17 carried on'the scalesgonthe `Weighjin'g lorry, which Weighing'lorry is carried Qna series oftrucks as shoWIltfuld designed to' be moved ,over the tracks19 transversely vof the railroad tracks. The operator-'inthe .cab 16 sets they scale. beam at. the desired at. -With myfinventionv thisjrcan A be amount of 'ore' or other lprodnct,leither at Vone-half of the loader otherv portion Vof the load, Whichphe'desiresto load into the rail- Groad cars, 'and then operates the-"gateson the receiving hopper 14, Which gradually :discharge vinto Vthe. ho per on the Weighing scales until the predetermined amount is reached.; rlfhe gatesare then thrown out of Voperation and the Weighinglorry moved to yposition over the car whichis tofbe-loaded. y'The operator then opens the`gat`es in the i bottom Iof the' hopper 17a and discharges the contents in the car below. Y, v A greatmany railroadcarsa're designed l"tojcarry fifty-five tons-Tof ore. *As thesecars are preferably loaded intvvo piles, one over each Vsetplf-trucks', the Weighing lorry in` commercial practice. is of a'suilic'ientsize' to holdv practically one-halfy `al railroad carfor labout thirty ,tonslf-v If a1 carto berloaded ,has a maximum rated capacity of fifty-five tons,- the 'operators'ets the scale beam at twenty-seven and one-half tons, and then "draws'off ore'from the reciving'hop eruntil #the scjalebeamv exactly balances.l dri-Ie then shuts off A'the-supply of Vv'ore from` the receiving-hopper', and operates the Weighing lorry p "until itrcgist'ers 'directly overv the railroad i `tracknp'on which the car is locatedto bef90 loaded. He then deposits the y'twentyseven and one-haliftons of Vore Whichthe lorry contains into the railroad `4car,j approxi- ,mately-"overa"one Yof'fthe .endtrucks` He tli'en travels backA tofthe, receiving hopper andl draws off anotherV lotl amounting to twenty-seven and-one-halftons, and again Amoves-back over thefrailroad carfto be. loaded In the'meanv time, therailroad vcar vhas been moved along until the other truck `stands beneathftlie discharge ofthe' Weighing lorry, andvvhen the operator; discharges the second charge of tvventy'sev'en and onehalf tons, it is deposited intheo osite end of the car` from that linf Whicll'the ,first Acharge was delivered, and the `car is then ,'initially'lloadedto Vits predetermined maximum capacity. s

vIt/isl obvious, ofcourse, that very tmuch larger cars may bebui'lt, rsio that it Would require more than ltvvotrips of the Weighinglorry to fill the''car, or they size ofthe 'weighinglorrymaybeincreased;i 'I-l have l merely referred to` cars? and vv' ei,f ghing 'lor-f? ries of the 'size mentioned tobring outmore clearly the ease and'manner of loading with v'my inventiony under the presentY commercial practice. Alloperations, ofthe gates inthe receiving hopper 14,1 andi ofthe Weighing."l

lorry, including the Weighing of the prod- 120 uct, is 'handled ,by the operatorV in the cab 116. Itis readily seenv from' thel description "and illustration that;the"'operation ofl conf veying or transferringflthe product', either from the boat or'dock caribe carried ,on continuously Without interruption While i the. Weighing lorry is'fbeingfoperated. Y y, Vaving 'now described my invention,` y'I -cla'imzq' i' '1.111,1 avr-plant of* thei class' described,-"fa -130 bridge, tracks su porting said bridge, a receiving hopper bridge, a lifting bucket, traveling relatively to the bridge and hopper, a weighing lorry, traveling transversely to the tracks, readily controllable means for gradually feeding the products from the receiving hopper t0.

the weighing lorry, and means for discharging from the weighing lorry. Y

2. In a'plant of the class described, a handling bridge supported 0n rails, a large elevated receiving hopper supported rigidly with relation to the bridge, means for conveying the product from a source of supply to the receiving ho per, a weighing lorry supported by the brldge below the receiving hopper, adjacent thereto and capable of traveling transversely of the tracks, readily 'controllable means for gradually feeding the product, as desired, fromthe receiving hopper to the weighing lorry, and meansfor discharging the product from the weighing lorry to acar below.V

3. In a plant ofthe class described, means for initially loading a car` to a predetermined maximum, said means comprising a bridge,

a large elevated receiving hopper {ixedly supported on the bridge, a lifting bucket for conveying the product from a source of supply tothe receiving hopper, a weighing lorry supported on the bridge below the receiving hopper for travelingL movement relatively to the bridge, readily controllable means for gradually feeding and instantly stopping the feeding of the product from the receiving hopper to the Vweighing* lorry, and means for discharging the product from the weighing lorry to a ear on any one 'of a plurality of tracks beneath the bridge.

' 4. In a device vof the class described, a bridge, a track supported on the bridge above a series of railroad tracks, and transversely thereto, a travelin Aweighing lorry designed to travel on sai first mentioned track, a receiving hopper ixedly supported by the bridge above the weighing lorry, and in position to receive material from a lifting bucket, a lifting bucket mounted on the bridge for delivering the product 5 either from a boat or from a source of supply on the dock yto the receiving hopper, readily lcontrollable means for gradually feeding the product as desired from the receiving xed with relation to the` hopper to the weighing lorry, and means for delivering the product from the weighing lorry to a car on any one of the tracks below. Y

5. VInan ore handling and weighing plant adapted t0 weigh the ore into a car without receive a charge preparatory to weighingit,

means for delivering the ore to the receiving hopper, readily controllable means for gradually feeding and instantly stopping the feeding of the ore from the vreceiving hopper to the weighing lorry, and means for discharging the ore from the weighing lorry ecl transversely into a car or cars on any` one of the several L tracks whereby the operations of transferring and weighing the ore may be carried on simultaneously without the interference of either by the other.

- 6. In a device of the` class described, a supporting structure extending transversely of a series of parallel railroad tracks below said structure, a traveling wei hing lorry supported by said structure am? adapted to .be vmoved transversely over the railroad tracks to register with a car or cars on any A one of the several tracks, as desired, a receiving hopper fixed with relation to the supporting structure and supported by thel structure above the weighing lorry, readily controllable means for gradually feeding the ore from the receiving hop er to the weighing lorry, and means vfor discharging Vthe vOre from the weighinglorry into a car or cars on any one of the several tracks.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name to'this specification in the presence of 'two witnesses.

CHARLES s. WILLIAMSON.

Witnesses:

CLARENCE J. Lor'ius, l M. B. KmNAoAN.

sus.l 

